Chapter 133 Li Chengqian and Li Tai Gather at the Ministry of Personnel

"How's the investigation going on your end?"

Wei Shuyu put down the salt register, his face solemn.

"Strange...it's really strange."

Ma Zhou put down the salt register and shook his head in confusion: "The price of salt in Jiangnan has skyrocketed, but the government's salt has not only not been sold out, but there is still a lot of inventory left."

"What?"

Chu Suiliang exclaimed in shock, "The same is true for the area around Liangzhou, according to my research."

After saying this, the three of them fell into deep thought.

"What exactly is the problem?"

Ma Zhou asked, puzzled, "If there's salt in the salt warehouse, how did the price of salt go up?"

"Could it be that the government has raised prices privately, resulting in the salt not being sold?" Chu Suiliang asked after thinking for a moment.

"This possibility cannot be ruled out."

Ma Zhou nodded: "But this is also the biggest point of doubt..."

"Any official with a brain would raise the price of salt so high?"

"If the imperial court finds out, even nine generations of their family won't be enough to wipe them out!"

"There's another point: it would be one thing if it were just an official with a problem with his brain."

“In the vicinity of Jiangnan and Liangzhou, there are more than a dozen prefectures and hundreds of important officials.”

"It's impossible for everyone to be stubborn, right?"

After he finished speaking, the room fell silent once again.

I really can't figure it out.

"Looks like we'll have to make the trip ourselves."

Ma Zhou sighed and turned to Wei Shuyu: "Shuyu, the people's welfare is paramount; this matter cannot be delayed."

Wei Shuyu nodded.

I thought that with my math skills, I could find the problem in this salt book.

Who would have thought that there was nothing wrong with the salt register at all?

This is really difficult.

"Alright."

Wei Shuyu arranged the salt registers: "Pack them up today, we'll set off tomorrow."

The three of them left together.

"Big pot, are you leaving?"

Choi Shin-ki and Fang Yi-ai immediately came forward to greet them.

The two of them didn't have the patience to check the salt registers; they just flipped through a couple of books and went out for a stroll.

"Um."

"Did you find anything?"

"No."

"How could there be no problem? The problems I investigated are huge."

"You can still find problems?" Wei Shuyu rolled his eyes.

"Are you looking down on me?"

Choi Shin-ki was very unhappy: "The two books I just looked at, all the salt from the past few months are sold out."

"That's not all."

"We even sold a lot of military supplies and spare parts."

Um?

Wei Shuyu paused, then abruptly turned to look at Cui Shenji.

What did you just say?

"Did you succumb to the sacred tree?"

*Smack*

Wei Shuyu smacked him on the head with his other hand.

"Oh, I remember now."

Choi Shin-ki covered his head, looking aggrieved: "The salt catalogs I was looking at are all sold out."

"Are they really sold out?"

Wei Shuyu repeated it again.

"right."

Wei Shuyu then looked at Fang Yi'ai: "What about those salt registers you were looking at?"

"Sold out."

Fang Yi'ai responded with one sentence.

There's a problem.

Wei Shuyu called out, "Let's go back and take another look."

He turned around and went inside.

Chu Suiliang and Ma Zhou also found it strange.

To save time, they only looked through the salt registers from the Jiangnan and Liangzhou regions.

However, the salt registers given to Choi Shin-ki and Fang Yi-ai were from other prefectures.

Salt prices in the Jiangnan and Liangzhou areas skyrocketed, yet they couldn't be sold, while other prefectures and cities were experiencing shortages.

There's clearly something wrong here...

The three of them once again devoted themselves to the diligent investigation.

Meanwhile, at the entrance of the Ministry of Personnel.

Li Chengqian, accompanied by a eunuch and a guard, walked towards him. In front of him, Wu Qiqi, holding her braid, was jumping around happily.

"Little Jiji, Little Aiai..."

Seeing the two of them come out of the Ministry of Personnel with their arms around each other's shoulders, Wu Qiqi immediately ran up to them.

"Seven Seven..."

The two were quite happy to see Wu Qiqi.

"What did you do at the palace?" Choi Shin-ki asked.

"Stop talking."

Wu Qiqi glanced at Li Chengqian behind her.

"Oh my god, why did you bring him here?" Choi Shin-ki's heart tightened when he saw Lee Seung-gyeom.

He betrayed Li Chengqian and ransacked his gambling den; this grudge was no small matter.

"You swore!"

Wu Qiqi puffed out her cheeks.

"I didn't do it on purpose," Choi Shin-ki immediately explained.

Wu Qiqi didn't care and lowered her voice, saying, "He's here to win you over. Deal with him."

"What do we do?"

Fang Yi'ai pretended to be embarrassed and said, "He is the Crown Prince."

"I know you have a way."

"No, no..."

The two shook their heads repeatedly.

"A lollipop." Wu Qiqi held up one finger.

The two continued to shake their heads.

"Two lollipops?"

The two shook their heads again.

"Then I'll go find Wei Shuyu."

Wu Qiqi made a move to turn around.

"No...please stop!"

The two hurriedly grabbed Wu Qiqi: "Why are you troubling us with something like this, Big Brother?"

“Yes, yes, leave it to us,” Fang Yi’ai agreed.

"It's a deal, two lollipops, no take-backs."

"Going back on your word is like a puppy."

The two of them talked back and forth.

"Alright, alright, two it is. I'm a woman of my word!"

Only then did the two of them show satisfied smiles.

Immediately afterwards, he went to greet Li Chengqian with great pride and high spirits.

"Greetings, Your Highness the Crown Prince."

The two men bowed respectfully.

"No need for formalities."

Li Chengqian said with a smile.

When trying to win people over, you need to be polite and attentive.

"Thank you, Your Highness."

The two men straightened up, looking like loyal subjects.

“God base…” Li Chengqian was about to speak.

"Sacred Tree?"

Choi Shin-ki was 'greatly shocked': 'Your Highness, the Huang Yunlou gambling den has nothing to do with me, I don't know anything about it.'

Li Chengqian's lips twitched.

Did I tell you about the gambling den? You're just trying to distance yourself from it.

"I wasn't referring to Huang Yunlou..."

Li Chengqian suppressed his anger, but before he could finish speaking, he was interrupted by Cui Shenji.

"Sacred Tree?"

Choi Shin-ki was once again 'shocked': "Your Highness, you've betrayed me! You can do whatever you want with me!"

“That’s not what I meant…” Li Chengqian’s cheeks began to twitch.

"Sacred Tree?"

Choi Shin-ki looked terrified: "Your Highness won't forgive me? I'll go to His Majesty's residence to beg for forgiveness right now."

"solitary……"

"Sacred Tree?"

Choi Shin-ki replied again, "Your Highness, you want to beat me? I'll let you beat me, I won't resist, absolutely not."

Li Chengqian clenched his fists, showing signs of about to explode.

Is someone like this really worth trying to win over?

Before he could speak again, Choi Shin-ki spoke up once more...

"The sacred tree? Your Highness, you..."

"Shut up!"

Li Chengqian roared angrily: "God my ass! You've been talking about gods all this time. I know your name is Shenji!"

"Your Highness, please do not be angry."

Fang Yi'ai immediately stepped forward: "Shenji didn't do it on purpose. He just felt guilty for betraying you a few days ago and has become a little obsessed."

“Yes, yes, yes…” Choi Shin-ki nodded repeatedly.

Upon hearing this, Li Chengqian's anger subsided somewhat, and he gave Fang Yi'ai a meaningful look.

At least there's someone with a normal brain.

Choi Shin-ki had betrayed him, so he didn't have much hope for him.

Conversely, Fang Yi'ai could be won over.

"It was my fault for losing my composure, but fortunately, my beloved Yi Ai offered her righteous advice..." Li Chengqian sighed.

Try to make your expression look as touching as possible.

"Your Highness, you mustn't."

Fang Yi'ai immediately bowed: "My Fang family has received great favor from the Emperor, this is what I should do..."

Even if you haven't eaten it, haven't you at least seen a pig run?

He simply learned from Fang Xuanling's usual practices.

Just when Fang Yi'ai was about to stir things up, Li Tai arrived...

"Haha, is the Ministry of Personnel so lively today?"